


Assistant Teacher

by zaynedere



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Anxiety, Belly Dancing, Costume Making, First Dates, It doesn't show up too much yet but, Kisses, M/M, Mistletoe, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Indulgent, Sexy Santa, Sexy Santa Outfits, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, dance au, just gonna tag it to be safe, shance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-23
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-01 16:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8630410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zaynedere/pseuds/zaynedere
Summary: “Start by watching those /delinquents/ stretch, while I teach the responsible ones the christmas dance. Your name is…?”
 “You can call me Shiro,” The man, Shiro, said in a smooth, deep voice. Lance flushed softly at the sound, loving it.
 “/I/ can call you Shiro?” Shiro sputtered at the response before Lance laughed, a small grin on his face. “I’m kidding. Not about /them/ though. Make sure they’re thoroughly stretched.”
OR The Shance Dance AU that no-one asked for.





	1. Lance, Meet Your Hot Assistant Teacher

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! I was desperate for Shance honestly, and I love the thought of them dancing together. 
> 
> Aka, Lance gets an assistant teacher at the same time that he's teaching his students how to dance a very sexual version of Jingle Bell Rock.
> 
> Honestly, this is pretty self indulgent omf

“More.”

 

“B-But-”

 

“ _ More. _ ”

 

Lance pushed on Melinda’s back, forcing her to lay against her legs. A whine came from his student and he smirked, satisfied. They’d had a week long break in between their everyday classes, so the good majority of his dance students were tense and definitely not flexible enough for the intense dance he’d wanted to try today. After another ten seconds of holding her down, he pulled away and strode to the front of the mirrored room, sighing. 

 

“I thought I told you guys to stretch over the break,” He commented off-handedly, watching his students move into the next stretch. “Well, I know  _ some  _ of you did, so those who did can move to the  _ other  _ side of the room while I set up the music. And it’s christmas time; y’all know what dance we’re doing.” Several groans resounded throughout the room, a small giggle coming out of Lance when a few confused looks came from the newer students. 

 

The piece was one that Lance did  _ every _ year; basically, it was a very slutty dance to jingle bell rock. Everyone loved the dance but simultaneously hated it. They all wore heels and really inappropriate santa outfits; it  _ was _ an adult class after all. Lance may not have had boobs but he had hips, and he  _ damn  _ well knew how to use them. 

 

In the middle of the dance while he was dropping it low, Allura walked in with an absolutely  _ gorgeous  _ man. Lance didn’t stop, coming back up and thrusting his ass out like the dance commanded him to. “What do you want Allura? I’m in the middle of my  _ favorite  _ dance.” Lance could see the large man behind Allura blushing as Lance danced on, swaying his hips to the tune of ‘Jingle Bell Rock’. 

 

“I can see that Lance, but your new assistant teacher is here. You know, the one we talked about before the break?” That stopped Lance in the midst of popping out his hip and eyeing that really hot guy. 

 

“I asked for someone flexible,” He said, easily getting out position and pausing the music with a soft sigh. “He’s too muscle-y.”

 

Allura rolled her eyes. “He’s just as flexible as you or I, just so you know. You’re stuck with him anyways, just deal with it.” Lance sighed, taking in his new teacher. He was tall, with black hair that held a dash of carefully dyed white hair. He was  _ very _ muscular, Lance could see it through the tight tank he was wearing. He had a smooth, grey prosthetic on his right arm, or rather  _ as  _ his right arm. The scar that ran across the man’s face looked nice on him, it made him look more _ rugged _ , hot even. 

 

Lance sighed softly, nodding. “Alright, come on in. Your stuff can go against that wall,” He nodded to the wall not covered in mirrors. “Start by watching those  _ delinquents  _ stretch, while I teach the  _ responsible  _ ones the christmas dance. Your name is…?”

 

“You can call me Shiro,” The man, Shiro, said in a smooth, deep voice. Lance flushed softly at the sound, loving it.

 

“ _ I  _ can call you Shiro?” Shiro sputtered at the response before Lance laughed, a small grin on his face. “I’m kidding. Not about  _ them  _ though. Make sure they’re thoroughly stretched.” 

 

Shiro nods and walks around the students with split legs; some struggling to press their torsos to the floor with their legs spread. Others were nowhere near that. For a moment, Lance watched Shiro gently push down on people’s backs, forcing their chests to the ground for roughly ten seconds before releasing them. 

 

After seeming satisfied, Lance turned back to his awaiting students with a devilish grin. “Okay, I know that our dearest Keilani knows this dance after being my student for four years, so how about demonstrating with me?” Keilani was a dark Hawaiian woman with gorgeously thick, black hair and was a bit curvier than the other women in the class. She’d been around since Lance’s first class, and they were practically best friends at this point. Said woman rolled her eyes, stretching her arms up before nodding and standing next to Lance. He motioned for one of the newer girls to start the song, and as soon as he heard the first beat, he let himself remember the moves that flowed through his body.

 

It sounded weird, saying that such an inappropriate dance would flow. Lance, at first, always that the word was meant for elegant dances, or emotional moves. That ‘flow’ meant to put your heart and soul into it, let your emotions run free. He quickly learned that heart and soul goes into  _ every  _ dance. Hard and fast, slow and heart-tugging, they flowed equally. Everything should connect, everything should feel  _ natural  _ when dancing. It didn’t matter if the dance made you the number one hoe around, it should come easier to you than riding a bike, it should be  _ apart  _ of you. Lance always gave that speech at the beginning of the year, his own little motivator for everyone. 

 

He let himself look around a bit, to make sure his students were watching. They were indeed, and Shiro seemed to definitely notice him, if the red face and wide eyes were anything to go by. Lance let himself laugh a bit, popping out his ass as the dance moved on. “What Shiro? Never seen a guy as hot as me dance?” A few chuckles came from the class, the man blinking and looking away with a growing blush. Damn, he was definitely going to need to learn how to control his embarrassment if he was going to play the role Lance had in mind for him.

 

The dance ended with him and Keilani kneeling with one leg up and one leg down, like a proposing position. They panted softly with their backs pressed against each other, smiling at the little claps they got. They both got up after a moment, Lance thanking the woman before clearing his throat. “That’s the dance for the most part! We have a bigger class than last year so I might change some moves,  _ but  _ we do have a part for  _ you _ , Shiro!” At the sound of his name, the man looked up with a questioning brow. “ _ You _ get to be our sexy Santa!” The man blushed darkly, eyes widening. 

 

“What?” ‘Sexy Santa’ questioned, a little bit of fear and disbelief in his voice. 

 

“You heard me! Sexy Santa! I’ve been wanting to try this for  _ years  _ but we’ve never had a guy burly enough to do it. This is perfect! You don’t do much, just kind of sit in a chair while someone dances around you and shit; we’ve all seen that, yeah?” Lance was full of excitement, and he could feel his students were excited too. Shiro, on the other hand, looked downright  _ terrified.  _

 

“B-But Lance, I’m not even  _ white,  _ how can I-” 

 

“Shhhh,” Lance hushed, walking closer to him. “You’re not the actual Santa, you’re  _ sexy  _ Santa. Sexy Santa doesn’t equal white. You’ll be  _ perfect.”  _ Lance nods, grinning before looking over his  _ delinquents.  _ “Alright you guys, up up,”  _ Clap clap.  _ “We’re gonna start learning the dance today.”

 

\----

 

As his girls and two male students left the room, Lance stretched his arms up, sipping from his blue water bottle. Shiro stayed behind, rubbing the back of his head with his biological hand. “Uh, Lance? Can we talk?” Lance nods, putting the bottle down and walking over to where the taller man stood, looking up at him slightly due to their small height difference. 

 

“What do you wanna talk about?” Lance questioned, rocking back on his heels. 

 

“Well, uh,” He started, looking away. “I just wanted to know what being uhm,  _ santa _ entailed.”

 

Lance giggled, eyes bright. “Well, like I said, you’ll probably be sitting in a big red chair. I haven’t decided on the costume yet, but I was thinking of having you wear some red leggings and ditching the shirt. Adds to the  _ sexy  _ part, you know?” The man looked uncomfortable, and Lance read him like an open book. “Would you rather not participate?”

 

Shiro shrugged, rubbing at the sleeve that covered the upper part of his synthetic arm. “I just- I’d rather not be shirt less, if that’s alright?” Lance hummed, nodding. 

 

He thought of various outfits for a moment, taking Shiro’s stature and size. “How about a low cut red longsleeve? It’ll look good on you,” Lance added, rubbing his chin. 

 

Shiro nodded after a moment of hesitation. “Y-Yeah, that sounds much better, thank you.” 

 

“Anytime,” Lance purred, moving back to his speakers to push play on the song again. 

 

“What’re you doing? Isn’t class over?” 

 

“Hmm?” Lance hummed, looking over at his assistant teacher. “Yeah, but I need to listen to it and try some new moves for the class; having everyone doing the same thing is kind of boring for the eyes, you know?” That drew a small nod out of Shiro. Lance then let the song play through once, gathering his ideas. 

 

There were a few girls in the class that knew how to belly dance, so he tried that out when he was supposed to go low, instead lifting his shirt and bending his knees a bit, pushing up and watching his hips and stomach move. He made a mental note on the move, deciding to bring it up next class. He was acutely aware of Shiro’s eyes on him as Lance danced the rest of the song, adding some hip sways and more torso movements as he danced to the song more than a few times. 

 

When he deemed himself done, he walked over to his water with a slight pant, guzzling down the water then looking at Shiro, who was watching him almost intensely. Pulling away from the bottle, he spoke, “Like what you see?” The other man jerked his head away and Lance giggled, unplugging his phone and handing it to Shiro. “Gimme your phone number. if you’re gonna be my assistant teach I gotta be able to get into contact with you at  _ any  _ time, kapeesh?” 

 

Shiro nods and takes the phone, poking away at it as he typed his number. After receiving his phone, Lance stretched his arm up and booped Shiro’s nose. “Now come on and get coffee with me; I barely know you and I am  _ dying  _ for some caffeine.”

 

Shiro nodded after a moment, and the two of them grabbed their dance bags and exited the room, walking out of the decorated building in silence before Lance decided to speak up. 

 

“I guess I’ll tell you about myself, first. Allura, the  _ oh so wonderful  _ lady that brought you in is my elder sister. Don’t cross her by the way; that woman is  _ hellish  _ when she’s mad. Oh! I’m twenty three, I started teaching this class at nineteen, mostly to help ‘lura out and stuff since we both dance, but after I was no longer needed I… I don’t know. I felt at  _ home  _ in that dance room,” Lance sighed as he led the other across a street. “You’ll love the class. As you can see, everyone there works as hard as we do, well,  _ usually  _ they do. Sometimes people slack off when we have a break.”

 

The two entered a smaller coffee shop,  _ Altean Brew _ hanging over the door. A little bell chimed as they swung the door open, an older ginger man hopping to the counter at the sound. “Welcome! How may I- Oh! Lance, hello! How was dance?”

 

The man, Coran, was like Lance and Allura’s replacement father. Their family had to move back to Cuba because of some little issues, and when that had originally occurred, the elder let them work at the coffee house until they were old enough and had enough money saved up to buy the building down the street. “Hey Coran! It went really well, we started our Christmas dance and I’ve got my new assistant teacher right here,” He spoke cheerily, elbowing Shiro softly. 

 

Coran reached his hand over the counter, shaking the muscled man’s hand with a bright smile under his ginger moustache. “Howdy! The name’s Coran, Lance and I have known eachother for years now, isn’t that right chap?” 

 

Lance nodded, gesturing for Shiro to introduce himself. “Oh, uh, my name's Takashi Shirogane- I just go by Shiro though. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Coran. Your shop is lovely.” Wow, Shiro was  _ definitely  _ a guy that parents wanted their daughters to bring home; polite, gorgeous, humble. 

 

Coran kept his bright smile, leaning on the counter a bit. “So Lance, the usual?” Lance nods. “And for you, Shiro?” 

 

“Uhm…” Shiro looked over the chalkboard menu, blinking a few times before looking back to the shop owner. “A black tea, please.” 

 

Coran nodded and rang them up, Lance paying for it faster than Shiro could grab his wallet. “I’ve got it man, I dragged you here anyways.” Shiro nods slightly, thanking him. “Let’s go chill upstairs; Coran has beanbags up there.”

 

Before Shiro could protest, the shorter sas grabbing his wrist and dragging him past a blue curtain and up some older looked stairs, a few steps creaking as they ascended. The room they entered looked like a large living room; tanned brown couch sitting in the center with a mahogany coffee table in front of it. There were two beanbags that rested on the hardwood floor to the left of the couch, where Lance was currently headed. He dropped his bag before plopping onto the beanbag, sighing happily. “Man Shiro, come on. These things are literally the best.” 

 

The taller man hesitated, deciding to perch on the edge of the couch instead. Lance gave him a frown but left it alone, resting in the chair happily. “So, tell me about yourself?” He said, looking up at Shiro. “I told you my story, what’s yours?”

 

Shiro shrugged, starting to speak after a moment. “I’m twenty eight, former military. Kind of new to this town, and I live alone. Mom and Dad are back in Japan, my little brother is currently in Hawaii, but uh, he might come to this city within the next month or so if all goes well.”

 

Lance hums, smiling softly. “So, mister former military, what made you think you’re cut out for the totally hard life of a dance teacher?”

 

Shiro shrugged again, leaning against the couch. “Therapist said it’d be good for me. For, y’know,  _ this. _ ” He waved his fake hand a bit, sighing. 

 

“Dancing? I thought that’s something, I don’t know,  _ not  _ good for something like that.”

 

“I don’t know, I’m just following doctor's orders.”

 

Lance nodded, humming in thought. “So how much weight can you put on it?”

 

Shiro licked his lips, looking down at his addition. “Uh, not too much. Definitely can’t hold my weight, maybe someone who weighs roughly half my own.”

 

Before Lance could reply, Coran came up the stairs holding a paper cup and a plastic one, giving the blended drink to Lance and giving the warm paper cup to Shiro. “Here you two go! Enjoy! Oh and Lance, I made sure to put extra caramel in there.”

 

“ _ Extra  _ extra caramel?” Lance’s mouth hovered over the straw, eyes narrowing at Coran.

 

“As always!” Came the cheery reply, and Lance took a careful sip before humming happily, satisfied with the amount of caramel. After a moment, Coran left, smiling. 

 

“So,” Lance spoke after taking a long sip from his drink. “You could probably lift me, then?” Shiro nods after a moment. “Mmkay, just something to remember. I might need you to help me demonstrate lifts after our winter concert, only Kei knows how to be lifted and I can’t lift her.”

 

Shiro nods, sipping his tea. “I  _ should  _ be able to; we’ll have to practice it just in case. I  _ really  _ don’t wanna drop you.”

 

Wow, Shiro was just so sweet. “I’ll be fine; I’ve been dropped before. We can start practicing tomorrow after class, yeah?” Shiro nodded. “So anything else you wanna talk about? Maybe hobbies or something?” 

 

Shiro nods, sipping his tea again and rubbing his chin. “Well, I don’t actually do much right now. I don’t have a lot of friends to be honest…” Lance frowns at this.

 

“How long has it been since you’ve been discharged?”

 

“A few months. I uh, I spent the last three in therapy. I didn’t really leave my house during that time so…” Shiro looked pretty uncomfortable, and it honestly tugged at Lance’s heart. Lance had  _ always  _ been surrounded by people and friends, he was never alone. Finding out the Shiro was alone as he was going through the process of healing just didn’t sit right with him.

 

“Well, I’m your friend now! And the dance class, and Coran,” Lance talked excitedly, wanting the mood to lift as he sipped at his drink. “What stuff did you do before you were discharged? You look like the kind of guy who drank protein shakes and benched ten children at once.”

 

Shiro chuckled, grey eyes lighting up a bit. “While I did drink protein shakes, benching children wasn’t  _ quite  _ on my agenda. I played a lot of piano; my parents have this gorgeous grand piano back home and I grew up playing it.” The light in Shiro’s eyes made Lance nearly grin. He  _ loved  _ seeing that. He saw it a lot in dance class, when someone was  _ passionate  _ about what they did. Shiro talked about the piano for nearly twenty minutes, and Lance was content to sit and listen, putting in his two cents when it was needed but otherwise staying quiet. Near the end, though, he could tell that Shiro was growing sad.

 

“I miss the piano so much… I have one in my living room but…  _ This _ ,” He waved his hand once again. “Prevents me from playing music that’s too fast. The fingers just don't move like I want.” Lance frowned softly, sucking up the last of his coffee before setting the empty plastic cup on the table. 

 

“I know how to play some piano, if you’d like to play sometime. Allura and I used to do duets on our parent’s piano. It’s been awhile but… I don’t know, I think it’ll be fun,” Lance said with a smile, watching the other's face light up. Shiro was all smiles again, seeming astonished that Lance would offer such a thing. 

 

“Really?” 

 

Lance nodded, standing with a stretch. “Of course. We can work out a time later, I need to go back to the dance building to grab my car. Wanna walk with me?” Shiro nods and stands as well, picking up their garbage and following Lance down. He tossed the empty cups in the bin, thanking Coran on their way out. 

 

They walked in silence, the air a bit chilly due to the late November air. Shiro seemed to be in some sort of pain, if the way his face scrunched up was anything to go by. “Shiro? You okay?” 

 

The man shrugged as they walked, looking away from Lance. “My arm hurts when it get’s too cold; my sleeve isn’t quite warm enough for this weather.” Lance nods. 

 

“Let’s hurry up and get to our cars then,” Lance said softly speeding up his pace a little. They arrived quickly, Lance moving over to his car and looking around for Shiro’s, not finding any other car. “Shiro? Do you have a car?”

 

Shiro, again, looks uncomfortable as he begins talking. “Well, no. I…  _ Prefer _ walking.”

 

Lance nods. “Okay. Do you… want a ride? You said that the cold made your arm hurt, so…” Shiro smiled softly, nodding. 

 

“Yeah, that would be really great,” He said, opening the passenger door as Lance unlocked it. They climbed into the small, four door car, the owner starting it up quickly. 

 

“Where do you live, handsome?” Lance purred, clicking on his seatbelt and pulling out of the small parking lot. Pet names like handsome, gorgeous, and babe were things he said to everyone he knew, it was just his thing. He wasn’t  _ always  _ flirting, but more often than not he was letting loose his light flirts to his friends, not expecting to get much out of it. 

 

Shiro, who was blushing, cleared his throat and gave Lance directions. “Ah, I live just beyond ninth and state, I think?”

 

“You think?” Lance questioned, raising an eyebrow and glancing at the other. 

 

Shiro shrugs. “I think. I’m not quite good with addresses and all.” Lance left it at that, driving them near the area with nothing but older radio music to fill their silence. It only took a few minutes, and soon Lance was turning onto ninth, slowing down a little for Shiro. 

 

“Which way now?”

 

“Ah, second street on your left, then the third house on your right.”

 

Lance hums at the response, following the other’s easy directions to a decently sized house. “Looks like we’re here buddy. I don’t live  _ too  _ far from here; I live a few blocks away actually, with Allura. Do you want a ride to the studio tomorrow?”

 

Shiro seems to hesitate before nodding, giving the dance instructor a smile. “Yeah, that would be great, thank you.” The elder got out of the car, walking up to his front door and digging around in his bag for some keys before fishing them out and unlocking the door, waving at Lance as he drove away.    
  


Lance hummed softly along to the current song on the radio as he drove home, tapping the steering wheel a few times. He and Allura lived in a smaller home; just a three bedroom, one and a half bath home that they’d made their own for the time being. They kept their front lawn trimmed nicely, and during the Spring and Summer times, the two put a grand display of flowers on their porch and in their small backyard. 

 

Parking in their paved driveway, Lance shut off the car and climbed out with his own bag, sighing as he hiked it over his shoulder and locked his little car before getting inside the house, seeing his sister already in the kitchen. “Oh, Lance! You’re finally back!” She called, smiling at her little brother. “Put your stuff down and come help with dinner, yeah?”    
  


The younger let out a loud, dramatic sigh before setting his bag on their living room floor, next to their pole. Their living room wasn’t  _ quite  _ a living room; it was a large room with their dancing pole to one side, and a tv and small couch on the other side. They didn’t have room in their extra room for the pole, so they instead used their living room for that kind of dancing while the extra room was their practice room or, if someone had to stay over, their guest room. 

 

Lance helped finish cooking the chicken while his sister steamed some simple vegetables. After they served themselves dinner, they sat themselves next to each other on the couch and watched the news, Allura speaking after a few moments. “So? How are you liking Shiro?”

 

He swallowed his mouthful of chicken, smiling softly. “He’s really sweet. I hope he isn’t  _ too  _ sweet though; I can’t have him being all soft on my students. And… He’s pretty easy on the eyes,” Lance added with a soft blush, noticing Allura’s soft giggle. “Oh my god. Did you do this on purpose?” 

 

His sister looked away, giggling a little more. “Well, when he asked about signing up for classes, I gave him the choice of being my assistant teacher or yours; as soon as he saw a picture of you he said yes. That guy  _ definitely  _ needs to hide his emotions better.”

 

“I know right?” Lance exclaimed, turning towards his sister. “He couldn’t keep his eyes off of me when I was dancing, well I mean who  _ wouldn’t _ , I’m the hottest one there, but he was like,  _ really  _ staring at me. Should I be worried?”

 

“That he’ll steal your heart? Yes, very worried. That man has a heart made of pure happiness and kittens.”

 

“Happiness and kittens, huh?” Lance smiled. He wouldn’t mind that.


	2. Mistletoe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh sorry for the long wait! I hurt my wrist so typing is hard :( 
> 
> Thank you all for the comments on this!!! I'm so glad that people like it! It's so hard to find some good ol' Shance in this fandom sometimes. 
> 
> This chapter was a little rushed and I'm not totally satisfied with it, so please let me know if there is something nasty in there. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Lance’s mornings started early. First, he usually made breakfast for him and Allura, which could range from a gourmet, five star meal to a bowl of stale cheerios. It depended on Lance’s mood, to be honest. After breakfast, he and his sister would stretch and watch the news together, usually not talking in lieu of listening to the bullshit that went on in the world.

 

After stretching, his sister typically left for the dance studio to teach the earlier classes while Lance stayed home to rehearse or come up with his own dances. Today felt like a pole dancing day, so Lance, of course, decided that was what he was going to do for the next hour. After connecting his phone to his bluetooth speakers, he blasted some dirty dancing music and took a breath before giving himself a small running start and letting his hands grip the pole and using his arms to lift himself into the air. 

 

He started out slow, thighs gripping the pole and helping him twirl a bit. After a minute or so of this, he used his arms to give himself more momentum and grip as he pushed his chest flush against the pole, legs moving out behind him into a vertical split. He sighed happily, feeling the light burn in his legs as he pushed them forward in front of himself and wrapped one around the pole, spinning himself faster. He gripped the pole with his thighs, crossing his ankles and letting his torso pull away from the metal, stretching his arms out in the air as he twirled. Damn, he loved doing this. 

 

Over an hour later, Lance was nursing some bruised knees as he texted Shiro, asking if now was a good time to be picked up. Lance was trying to do a rather complicated move with tired arms, which Allura  _ had  _ warned him about. Of course, Lance never listened. And now he would forever be teased by Keilani. Oh well. 

 

After receiving confirmation, Lance piled his dance stuff in his back seat then left his house, wearing a thin blue sweater and black leggings. The drive of course, was short, and soon he was parked in front of the cement sidewalk outside of Shiro’s house and honking his horn twice. It was only a moment before Shiro was coming out of the door and locking it, then jogging over to Lance’s car and hopping into the passenger seat.

 

Nigh immediately, Lance started talking as he drove away from the curb. “Let’s practice the lifts today, if that’s alright. And I’ll need you to teach some of the Santa dance today, I can’t bend my knees that far today.” Shiro gave him an odd look, and Lance bit his lip. “I was pole dancing this morning, and I lost my grip and fell.”

 

“Are you alright?”

 

Shiro sounded so worried. Such a sweet man. “Just a bit bruised. I’ll be fine; but I’ll need to demonstrate stuff for me. You good with that?” Shiro nods out of the corner of his eye. “Oh, do you want something for lunch?” A shrug. Lance sighed dramatically, driving along state street. “ _ Speak _ to me Shiro, I won’t bite you. What do you want for lunch?” 

 

Shiro cleared his throat, shifting in his seat. “I mean, sandwiches sound okay? Subway, maybe?” Lance hums at this, locating the nearest Subway via his internal GPS then getting there quickly. 

 

Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting at a yellow-brown table at Subway eating their own six sinch sandwiches. Lance spoke around a bite of turkey and tomato, one hand lightly pointing at Shiro. “How flexible are you?” Shiro gave him a look. “Hey! I’m a  _ dance instructor.  _ I’m allowed to ask these questions.” He said matter-of-factly. 

 

Shiro rolled his eyes. “Well, after some stretching, I can go into the splits. Uhm, I’m not sure how flexible I actually am?”

 

Lance swallowed his food, grinning devilishly. “Well, we’re gonna have fun stretchin’ you out.”

 

\----

 

An hour later, they were in the dance studio, stretching themselves out in positions not unlike the ones his students did yesterday. And  _ damn, _ Shiro was stretchy as hell. He could almost rival Lance himself, who happened to be double jointed and bendy as  _ hell.  _ After ensuring they were both stretched, they stood a few feet from each other, Lance starting to explain how lifts work.

 

“Okay, so what’s gonna go down is I’m gonna run towards you and you’re gonna use that momentum to push me up. You’ll need to hold me around my solar plexus, you know, this area,” Lance gestured to just above his stomach. “It’s my center of balance, so I’ll be able to stay above you, and it’ll be easier to hold me up. For this, you’ll only need to hold me for a few seconds, then what you’re gonna do is push forward a little as you’re setting me down, so that  _ I _ have some momentum when I’m going down. Got it?”

 

His dance partner nods, rolling his bad shoulder. “Will you be okay if I drop you?” Lance nods.

 

“Ee-Yup. Keilani tried lifting me last year and only held me for a full second before I had a nice date with the floor. Only a little bruise, nothing much. She’s pretty strong, but you’re stronger. You’ll do fine,” He assured as he took a good few steps back. “When you’re putting me down, make sure your hands follow my body. If it’s too much, tell me then just like, throw me. I can roll out of that; it hurts a lot less.”

 

Shiro nodded, moving into position. Lance took a deep breath, preparing himself. He trusted Shiro; who  _ wouldn’t  _ honestly, he was such a sweet guy. He felt the ache in his knees and the freshly-stretched burn coursing through his muscles. With a deep breath, Lance kicked himself off and ran towards Shiro, jumping as soon as he felt hands on his stomach. Then, he was in the air, and definitely not falling. His assistant teacher successfully held him up, and soon he was putting Lance down with a little push. He landed kind of gracefully; his knees ached but other than that everything went better than he’d imagined. 

 

Lance whooped, throwing his arms up and turning towards Shiro with a big grin. “Dude! That was so great! You did so well!” He saw the other smiling big too, running a hand through his bi-colored hair. “Now that we’re done with that, come with me to go get ice packs. My knees hurt like a mofo and I need fuckin’  _ relief. _ ” 

 

The taller gave him a soft laugh and followed him out, shaking his head a little as they went downstairs to Allura. His sister was wearing just a sports bra and exercise leggings, long, white hair tied back into a loose bun. She watched him dig around in their mini-fridge for the ice, giving a small smirk. “You did it, didn’t you?”

 

Lance turned from where he had his head poised in the fridge. “Maybe. Don’t judge me.”

 

Her eyes rolled, a hand coming up to tuck a little strand of hair behind her ear. “I told you  _ not  _ to do that. I seriously spent five minutes telling you why you  _ shouldn’t  _ do it, and you did it anyways?”

 

Lance finally dug out an ice pack, standing straight and rolling his eyes back. “When do I  _ ever  _ listen to you?”

 

Allura sighed dramatically, looking to Shiro. “Do you see this? My own brother too. What an ungrateful  _ brat. _ ”

 

Lance bows a little. “The one and only, baby.” His sister smacked his head lightly.  _ Jerk.  _ “Anyways, we just did a  _ super  _ successful lift, you should be  _ proud. _ ” Oops, maybe he shouldn’t have said that. Allua always worried over his well being, and performing a  _ lift  _ with bruised knees was definitely a no-no in her book. 

 

“You  _ what? _ ” She basically screeched, eyes widening. “ _ Lance! _ What have I told you about dancing while injured?”

 

“Uhm… Not to do it?” He turned to Shiro for help, but the guy looked guilty as well. Poor guy. 

 

“Exactly! And you did it! Do you know how bad that can be? On your knees? What is wrong with you?” She then devolved to scolding him in Spanish, Lance flushing a little. Poor Shiro, honestly. He looked out of place, and by the look on his face, he didn’t understand a word she was saying. In the middle of her lengthy scolding, Keilani of course had to walk in at that exact time. She squinted a little, raising an eyebrow at Allura, who had stopped her rant. 

 

“What did he do now?” She asked, thick lips moving into a soft smirk. 

 

_ Traitor.  _

 

“That  _ idiot  _ did a lift with bruised knees! He had no self control whatsoever!”

 

Keilani turned her raised brow to Lance, eyes moving from his to his assistant. “Wow Lance. You’re  _ really  _ enjoying having an assistant, huh?”

 

_ What a fucking traitor.  _

 

Lance blushed so hard that his chest was probably glowing if it were fully visible. Keilani giggled and even Allura laughed, and Shiro, bless his soul, obviously didn’t get the joke. His face screamed  _ ‘Am I missing something?’ _ . “Wow, Kei. Real  _ mature.  _ What a great friend.” He said flippantly. “I’m going back up now, away from you demons. Coming, Shiro?” Shiro nods as Keilani whispered something to Allura, the two of them giggling as the two men went upstairs. Honestly, Lance would rather have bruised knees from rough as hell sex than doing a stupid move on their exercise pole. 

 

When they arrived back at the mirrored room, Lance sat on the floor with a huff, laying the ice packs on his clothed knees. Shiro joined him a moment later, sitting only a few inches from Lance. “So,” The big man started. “Why were they laughing?”

 

Lance almost choked. Death sounded better than having to explain a sex joke to this incredibly cute guy. “Well uh, are you sure you wanna know?” Shiro nods, and Lance tries to swallow back his embarrassment. “Kei made it sound like we like, you know, that you and I fucked or something.” The red that blazed across Shiro’s face in an instant was a mix of adorable and hot. A strange mix, but definitely a good one. God, he hoped Shiro was at least bi. “That chick is an ass sometimes, don’t listen to her,” He said, trying to lighten the mood. “Anyways, do you know the christmas dance, at least the first part?” 

 

Shiro took a moment to think, then nodded a little. “Is it kind of like that Mean Girls dance?”

 

Lance laughs, nodding. “Yeah. I doubt you know how to belly dance, so you just teach the normal parts to everyone.”

 

\----

 

That afternoon, Lance definitely got a great view of Shiro’s ass, and didn’t feel the slightest bit bad about openly staring.

 

\----

 

Two weeks pass, and Lance’s knees have long since healed. He had a rather advanced class too, so they were almost ready for their concert which was the following Saturday. At the moment, Allura, Keilani, and Shiro sat with him in his livingroom, everyone helping with the outfits that needed to be made for their concert. The ones who were to belly dance wore basically a thick red strip that rested on their chests while they wore a rather floaty red skirt that had a little ‘Santa’s belt’ wrapped around the top of it. They threw in some tight, elbow length gloves for extra measure. The normal dancers would wear the typical ‘slutty santa’ outfit, which was a form fitting dress that was flowy and had a belt wrapped around the middle. 

 

Lance also managed to convinced the others to let him add red thigh highs, because come on,  _ thigh highs.  _ The wooden floor of the room was covered in red fabric scraps, white fluffs, and santa hats. Oh, and a few bits of plastic mistletoe; the kissing-plant would look totally cute on the ends of their Santa hats. Keilani was on sewing duty, Allura was on gluing duty, and Lance and Shiro were on cutting duty. It was honestly really fun; listening to holiday music and idly chatting about the upcoming concert.

 

Today was  _ also  _ the day that Lance wanted to ask Shiro out. A week prior, Lance found out that Shiro was in fact gay. Oh man, Lance had gone home that night and talked Allura’s ear off about how excited he’d been about it. Together, he, Allura and Keilani devised a plan; they would purposely buy too little of the red fabric, and make Lance and Shiro go buy more. That’s when Lance would metaphorically pounce, asking the man out while they were shopping. It was fool proof. 

 

The dance instructor looked around the room, eyeing the amount of fabric they had then meeting Allura’s eye. She nodded, and he cleared his throat, putting the fabric scissors down. “We’re low on fabric,” He announced, watching Shiro’s reaction. The guy nods, looking over the red on the floor as well as the dwindling pile of mistletoe. 

 

“Looks like we’re low on mistletoe,” Shiro pointed out. Everyone nods or hums in agreement. “I can go pick some more up?”

 

“I’ll take you,” He said probably a little too quickly, face flushing a little as Shiro smiled that sweet smile of his and nodded. Good lord, how can someone be so hot but so cute at the same time? After the two of them slid their shoes on and grabbed their own wallets and phones, they climbed into Lance’s little car and drove away. Lance’s entire body was filled to the brim in nervousness. 

 

It wasn’t quite a feeling he could describe. It felt like a coil wound tight in his chest, wanting to coil tighter then burst but also wanting to slowly uncoil, to unwind itself on its own. The closest descriptor he had for it was for when you were about to ask your already-in-a-bad-mood mother if your friend can sleep over back when you were twelve. The anxious feeling only grew when he parked the car in a mostly-empty Joann’s parking lot, the two of them climbing out and heading through the front doors. 

 

He had to admit, confessing to someone in the performance fabrics area of Joann’s wasn’t something Lance had ever seen himself doing, but here he was, fidgeting as Shiro leaned down to pull out the red fabric that they needed. Now or never, he supposed. No chickening out now. Clearing his throat, Lance made sure that the other was looking at him before speaking. “Uhm, Shiro? Can I ask you something?”

 

He nods. “Yeah, what’s up?”

 

The coil in his chest tightened to the point where it was nearly unbearable. “I- I uh. I wanted to ask if you would…” Why was this so hard for him? Usually flirting was his  _ thing.  _ Asking pretty girls and guys out was his  _ forte.  _ Putting on his metaphorical big boy pants on, he straightened a little. “I wanted to know if we could like, go on a date. If you wanted to go on a date with me, anyways.” Shiro stared at him for a minute, and Lance prepared himself for an embarrassing rejection. But instead, he got,

 

“Wow. You beat me to it.”

 

_ What. _

 

“What?” Red covered his face and ears, unsure if he’d heard right. 

 

Shiro shifted in the spot where he stood, smiling and rubbing the back of his neck. “I was planning on asking you out with the mistletoe we were supposed to get. Keilani and Allura helped me plan it.” He said, embarrassed. Lance felt his mouth hang open.  _ Those little fiends.  _

 

Despite feeling a little betrayed, Lance let himself smile and relax.  _ Shiro liked him.  _ “I mean, if you still wanna do that, I am  _ so  _ on board.” Okay, maybe not  _ so  _ on board, more like…  _ Mostly  _ on board. There was a good possibility that he could actually die if Shiro kissed him. Good way to go, though.

 

Shiro laughs a bit, and Lance feels his soul melt  _ just  _ a little. “Lemme get this fabric cut for us first.”  _ Oh god Shiro was planning on kissing him.  _

 

“You go do that, I’m going to call Allura and see if she needs anything else.” After he watched Shiro walk off towards the cutting counters, Lance whipped out his phone and called Allura. She answered on the second ring, sounding rather smug when she asked what he wanted. “Allura oh my god!” He yell whispered, ducking a little even though it wasn’t quite necessary. “I can’t believe that you’re gonna let Shiro  _ kiss  _ me!”

 

“Oh? So he told you?” A small gasp. “Did you ask him out?”

 

“Never mind that!  _ Shiro is going to kiss me _ . I’m actually gonna die. I’m going to die in the middle of Joanns because a super hot guy kissed me.”

 

“How are you going to die?”  _ Shiro.  _

 

“Oh, haha thanks Allura bye!” There were laughs coming from his phone as he hit the red ‘end call’ button, turning to find Shiro with a neatly folded square of red fabric. That was quick. “Uhm, you heard that?” He asked, rubbing the back of his neck. 

 

“Yeah. Sorry to eavesdrop, but you weren’t all that quiet,” Shiro said with a silly smile. “I won’t kiss you if you don’t want me to, really.” What a fucking sweetheart. 

 

Lance laughed a bit nervously, a weird combination of emotions bubbling in his chest. “Well uhm, I wouldn’t actually mind. I’m just- Embarrassed? Yeah, let’s go with that. I don’t usually get really hot guys asking me out so- I’m just- Yeah.” 

 

Shiro laughed, grabbing Lance’s wrist with his free hand and tugging him over to the fake plant isle. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m pretty embarrassed too. I’m just better at hiding it,” He teased, receiving a little swat from the other. Shiro laughed some more, stopping and letting go of Lance’s wrist in favor of grabbing a bundle of mistletoe. He looked at Lance with a smug look on his face, raising it above their heads with a raised eyebrow. 

 

Lance, if you didn’t already know, was a flustered fucking mess. In most of his romantic endeavours, he was what one would refer to as a ‘top’. Flirtatious, handsy, and even a bit of a tease when he wants to be. He was  _ always  _ the dominant one in the relationship, and he’d assumed that Shiro, although his size, would be the, as one would put it, the  _ submissive  _ one in the relationship due to his hesitant personality. But seeing how he was now, oh boy, things are changing  _ very  _ quickly.

 

Lance, with great hesitation, leaned up and met Shiro halfway for a soft kiss. It felt like he was sixteen all over again, heart thudding in his chest and his eyes shut tight. Damnit, he was an  _ adult  _ now. He shouldn’t be feeling so flustered over a tiny kiss. Though even as he pulled away and opened his eyes, he just grew more flustered when he saw the huge grin on Shiro’s face. Oh good fucking god, Lance was doomed. 

 

\----

 

When they returned, the two were holding hands, causing the girls in the house to giggle like crazy. Lance his his sister with a shoe, then threw the red fabric at Keilani because he was not only embarrassed, but a bit salty at their antics. In only a few hours, they got their outfits done, Lance rushing to try his on. He was one of the belly dancers, of course, so he wore the half top and skirt. The outfits may have seemed girly, but hell,  _ anyone  _ can rock a skirt so why deny the men of the group this god given right? Well, maybe not  _ god given _ , but close enough. His thigh highs were pulled on, and a garter belt was attached just for sexiness. He slid on his black heels for emphasis, just because he could, and they weren’t sure on the shoes for the outfits yet.

 

He walked out of his room like he was on a New York stage, hips swaying and heels clicking against the wooden floor as he made his way into the living room. He did a three-sixty for his tiny audience, looking at Allura who was analyzing his outfit with squinty eyes. “So? One to ten, how hot am I?” Lance questioned, angling his chin a little. He met Shiro’s eyes and winked, watching the man light up like a goddamn Christmas tree. Good, he still had a semblance of an upper hand in their budding relationship. 

 

Keilani rubbed her chin. “I’d say a good eight or nine. You could definitely make some money on the street.” Lance laughed.

 

Allura nods in agreement. “Yeah. Nine at least. Only because you’re not wearing makeup.”

 

Everyone turned to Shiro, who was still doing a great impression of a christmas tree. “Well?” Lance questioned, shifting his weight from one foot to the next. “One to ten?”

 

After a moment, the man quietly said, “It stops at ten?”

 

\----

It was Thursday night, the night before their performance, when Shiro spontaneously asked him out on a date. They were both kind of sweaty from their earlier dance practice, and Lance’s feet hurt a bit from dancing in heels for three hours. Apparently, that was attractive to Shiro because the man had suddenly blurted, “Would you go on a date with me tonight?” As they were packing up. 

 

Lance blinked up at the other, nodding a little. “I mean, y-yeah. But where are we going? I’m hella tired.” Shiro shrugged a little, rubbing at the spot where synthetic met skin nervously. 

 

“If you’re tired, we can go to my place and order in?” Shiro offered, Lance nodding. Wow, that sounded really nice, actually. Really domestic, too. 

 

“Will movies and cuddles be involved?” Lance asked, even though he’d already agreed to go. 

 

“If you want them to be. I don’t mind,” The other replied, shrugging on his own jacket and throwing the bag on over his good shoulder. Lance smiled and nodded again, getting ready to leave in a similar fashion. Together, they walked out to Lance’s car and piled in, relatively silent as they drove to Shiro’s house. This time, Lance parked in the driveway, walking up to Shiro’s front door with him. This was the first time that Lance was going to actually be  _ inside  _ of Shiro’s home, and he was definitely going to soak in the happy feeling he got. As soon as he was allowed, Lance stepped in, taking in the room with gentle eyes. 

 

It was rather… Empty. A simple couch and coffee table sat in front of the tv in the livingroom, and from where he stood, he could only see the kitchen, which had a nice stack of dirty plates but other than that there was nothing else decorating the house. Not a plant, or picture or painting. Nothing. If they were going to be dating for awhile, which he hoped to god that they would be, there would definitely need to be some decorating going on. As it was though, Lance toed off his shoes and set his jacket on the table, flopping on the couch and waiting for Shiro to join him.

 

Shiro sat a few inches away from Lance despite the fact that they were dating now, turning on the tv then scrolling through places on his phone that delivered. Lance, of course, was very touchy, and pressed himself against Shiro’s left side, reading the restaurants on the other’s phone. “Hmm, can we do pizza?” Lance asked. “I’m totally in a greasy mood.”

 

Shiro hummed an affirmative, locating a pizza place. “What do you want on it?” 

 

“Pepperoni is just fine, thank you,” He said, taking the remote and bestowing it upon himself to pick a good movie. That movie happened to be Avatar; you know, the one with giant ass blue people. Shiro shifted a little, wrapping an arm around Lance’s shoulders and tugging him close after a moment of hesitation. Lance swallowed up the attention, leaning on Shiro and resting his head on the buff man’s shoulder. 

 

Twenty minutes later, they were biting into yummy pizza slices and still sitting close. The movie is at the part where the planet's natives were attacking the helicopters, and Lance saw Shiro flinch a bit every time something exploded or a helicopter went down. Lance put his pizza slice down, switching the movie for the other. “You okay?” Lance asked, flipping the movie to some random show found on tv. 

 

Shiro shrugs a little. “I’m fine, I just- Plane crashes are still…” Lance nods in understanding, pushing his own pizza to the side to just cuddle the other. They sit like that, for what seems like hours, Lance easily falling asleep against Shiro. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Debating on whether or not I should do smut for this? The next chapter is mainly going to be about the dance, and the following chapter can be either epilogue-y or it can be continued into other dances and all that and the smut can be thrown in there?
> 
> Lemme know what you guys want!
> 
> Find me on twitter @zaynewrites

**Author's Note:**

> Hmu @zaynewrites (there be nsfw on there, be careful friends) on twitter if you wanna talk! Leave any love or critiscism in the comments, I'd like to improve my writing so any help would be, well, helpful! 
> 
> I'm planning two more chapters for this, possibly three so stay tuned!
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


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